All the members of the Indian team are fit for Wednesday's World Cup semifinal clash against Pakistan, according to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who strongly urged his teammates not to get distracted by the hype surrounding the high-voltage clash and just focus on the game.
Dhoni said Indo-Pak cricket matches tend to generate such media hype and it was important for the players not to get sucked into the frenzy and lose focus of the task at hand.
"Well, we know the kind of hype media India-Pakistan matches generate. We are not getting involved in all this. We need to know what we are expected to do and focus on that," Dhoni said at the pre-match media conference.
"All this is part of cricket and we have to accept it. But the key is not to get involved. We will have the biggest distinguished guests (referring to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani) to see the match, we have to be at our best," Dhoni said.
Asked whether the excessive hype would affect the Indians who are playing at home, the Indian skipper said, "It is not really affecting us. We all know it is a big tournament and we have prepared a lot. Our preparations have been the same like what we have done in the past few days."
Dhoni was not unduly worried about his batting form and reckoned that he had just not got opportunities to score big though he has been striking the ball well.
Asked specifically if pressure of captaincy was taking a toll on his batting, Dhoni responded: "It is only a cricketing aspect, nothing to do with form. I have been batting quite well. Sometimes the situations are not great to play flamboyant cricket. In the Bangladesh match, such a situation was there but I didn't get to bat."
"If you are batting at No 5, 6, or 7, you don't get to bat much if the top order scores. I think the last game (against Australia) was ideal but it went straight to a fielder. It does not go your way always. Form has not been a worry," he added.
© PTI
Dhoni said Indo-Pak cricket matches tend to generate such media hype and it was important for the players not to get sucked into the frenzy and lose focus of the task at hand.
"Well, we know the kind of hype media India-Pakistan matches generate. We are not getting involved in all this. We need to know what we are expected to do and focus on that," Dhoni said at the pre-match media conference.
"All this is part of cricket and we have to accept it. But the key is not to get involved. We will have the biggest distinguished guests (referring to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani) to see the match, we have to be at our best," Dhoni said.
Asked whether the excessive hype would affect the Indians who are playing at home, the Indian skipper said, "It is not really affecting us. We all know it is a big tournament and we have prepared a lot. Our preparations have been the same like what we have done in the past few days."
Dhoni was not unduly worried about his batting form and reckoned that he had just not got opportunities to score big though he has been striking the ball well.
Asked specifically if pressure of captaincy was taking a toll on his batting, Dhoni responded: "It is only a cricketing aspect, nothing to do with form. I have been batting quite well. Sometimes the situations are not great to play flamboyant cricket. In the Bangladesh match, such a situation was there but I didn't get to bat."
"If you are batting at No 5, 6, or 7, you don't get to bat much if the top order scores. I think the last game (against Australia) was ideal but it went straight to a fielder. It does not go your way always. Form has not been a worry," he added.
© PTI
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